THDP Ch 120 Part 3 – Mysterious Forest (III)
“Sixth-grade spirit stone…” Seeing the thing Meng Qi used for the experiment, Chu Tianfeng murmured. He had a hunch before, but the current Meng Qi truly had developed into a rich spendthrift who used spirit stones like they cost nothing. Every time she used arrays, she did not even stop to think twice when she threw away a fistful of profound-grade spirit stones. How many spirit stones did she actually have?
The group watched carefully as the spirit stone flew into the forest and quickly turned dimmer the further it went it. In the end, the spirit stone managed to flow further than the long sword thrown by Qin Xiumo before it turned into a pile of dust and dissipated in the air.
This result was within the range of expectation, as a single sixth-grade spirit stone possessed a spiritual aura equivalent to the full capacity of a cultivator who had just entered the realm of the Void Comprehending stage. However, this also showed that the extraction of aura became heavier the deeper one went into the forest, because the sixth-grade spirit stone only flew a few meters further than Qin Xiumo’s sword.
Meng Qi turned to look at Ji Wujiong, who still owed her a good number of spirit stones and thus was still under her employment: “Ji Wujiong, do you know this place?”
“Nope.” Ji Wujiong replied lightly, “However…” As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at Su Junmo: “It is said that there is a certain place in the Demon Realm able to abolish spiritual aura from any beings. Even if a cultivator on the level of the Comprehension Perfection stage entered, they would quickly be drained of their aura, unable to use spells or magic weapons, and becoming just like an ordinary person.”
“Indeed…” Su Junmo’s eyes narrowed, and his expression became serious, “But how do you know it?”
Ji Wujiong sneered: “You don’t need to worry about it. More importantly, it is said that thousands of years ago, the Devil Realms once formed a team consisting of powerhouses at the minimum level of the Void Comprehending stage with a mission to sneak into the Demon Realm. When they were discovered, they had already succeeded in assassinating the patriarch and two elders of a certain celestial demon clan. As a result, the clan fell into chaos and was about to be slaughtered by the devil cultivators. Later, the clan’s remaining three elders desperately lured the enemies into a certain place, and none of them, including the elders, ever came out again.”
“I’ve heard of it too!” Sikong Xing said: “The Monarch at the time was furious and dispatched his personal guards to enter the secret place. The guards finally found the shriveled corpses of the devil cultivators and three demon elders; all were completely drained out of their aura, with the elders’ corpses being in their beast forms, unable to maintain their human forms in their last moments.” She paused, and a look of fear suddenly appeared in her eyes: “I see! It’s Zhihui Valley!”
Sikong Xing’s shivered as she continued murmuring, “Zhihui Valley is a forbidden area in the Demon Realm, just like the Starfallen Sea. No one knows what’s inside the place, but it is public knowledge that anyone who dares to enter will instantly be sucked dry of aura.” The Zhihui Valley was such a notorious place that the adults of the demon race used its name to threaten misbehaving children. Both she and Su Junmo also grew up listening to such rumors.
Meng Qi’s heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously glanced at Su Junmo, who just happened to also be turning in her direction. Meng Qi pursed her lips lightly as she… had indeed heard about Zhihui Valley before, not from Su Junmo, but from Yun Qingyan in her previous life.
As the name, Zhihui — Know To Return — implied, this place was not something one could enter.
Once there, never move on, and you must get back quickly!
However, Meng Qi didn’t know that this infamous Zhihui Valley was actually located in the Demon Realm.
“But…” Sikong Xing murmured again, “Is this forest really the same as Zhihui Valley?” Except for the fact that both places drained the spiritual aura from anything that entered, they had no way of knowing if the forest was really the same as the legendary Zhihui Valley.
“No!” The red-dressed girl suddenly widened her eyes, “If Sister Xue is really here, then she… is she already…” When she said this, Sikong Xing suddenly closed her mouth and turned nervously at Meng Qi.
If the firework signal really came from this forest, Xue Jinwen was probably already…
“No.” Xue Chengxuan shook his head firmly, “My younger sister is still alive.” Xue Chengxuan turned his eyes and stared into the depth of the gloomy forest that looked so silent and empty, as if sucking the vitality of any being who dared to trespass its boundary. Their Xue Clan had its own unique connection method between family members. If Xue Jinwen was dead, he would never be uninformed. Yet, despite his confident posture, Xue Chengxuan couldn’t help but feel uneasy inside. Xue Jinwen’s cultivation base was far inferior to his and the lowest among his three sisters. If this forest was really the same as the Zhihui Valley mentioned by Sikong Xing and Su Junmo, a place that even claimed the lives of powerhouses in the Void Comprehending stage and above, then there was a high chance that his sister was already…
Knowing this, should they still proceed?
Frowning tightly, Meng Qi took a deep breath. She took out a signal firework from her storage space and lit it up. The firework shot to the sky and exploded, looking much dimmer during the day.
A moment later, a similar firework rose into the sky from inside the forest and exploded in the air, as if echoing Meng Qi’s call.
Meng Qi sighed in relief: “Sister Xue is there.”
They were now close enough to see that the firework was indeed coming from the depth of the forest.
At this moment, a long sword suddenly flew up. Like the brightest meteor, its cold gleam pierced through the sky.